Bariatric Ambulance

By Obesity Expert Leonard Smeltmann

Many emergency service providers are finding an increased need for a
bariatric ambulance. As obesity increases amongst the population across
the world, more sufferers of obesity need emergency medical attention
than ever before.

Bariatric ambulances are specially equipped and significantly more
expensive than normal ambulances. They are much larger and often located
centrally in large population centers, rather than being housed with
other ambulance fleets in dispersed locations.

Some bariatric ambulances are actually classified as heavy vehicles
and require a specialised license to drive. Acquiring the license is
normally part of bariatric patient training provided by the hospital or
health provider, in addition to dealing with the heavily specialised
equipment used in bariatric ambulances.

Bariatric ambulance equipment

Bariatric ambulances are equipped with specialised equipment so they
can perform their duties properly. This means they have hydraulic
patient lifts or access ramps, a larger interior, a cot loading system
and inbuilt power supplies and hydraulics.

Unlike normal ambulances, bariatric ambulances make it safe, reliable
and dignified to transport bariatric patients properly. Because of the
significant weight of bariatric patients, normal trolley / stretcher
systems are unsafe for paramedics to use. This is for two reasons:
firstly, the equipment in normal ambulances is not optimised for
bariatric patients, and secondly it is unsafe for both the patient and
the paramedics to try and assist a bariatric patient using standard
equipment.

For example, a normal stretcher may have a load tolerance of
significantly less than the body weight of morbidly obese patients. When
dealing with lifting and moving bariatric patients, it is unreasonable
to expect 2 paramedics to lift both a stretcher and someone weighing
several hundred pounds. If the stretcher was to break or buckle, not
only could the patient’s injuries be aggravated but the paramedics
themselves could be hurt.

Modern bariatric ambulances remove most of the ‘grunt work’ from
treating bariatric patients. They use clever technology like inflating
stretchers and hydraulics to make securing, stabilising and transporting
bariatric patients far more easy and streamlined.

As the worldwide epidemic of obesity continues, more and more health
services will need to supplement their normal ambulance fleet with
bariatric ambulances and bariatrically trained specialists. With an
estimated rise in bariatric emergency calls of 40% over the next three
years, administrators and fleet managers need to start looking ahead to a
demographic trend that shows no signs of slowing down.